KSC-2010-3481

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Solid Rocket Booster Disassembly Facility at Hangar AF on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, one of the solid rocket boosters used during space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 launch, atop a tracked dolly, undergoes its first washing. The booster was used during space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 launch from NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A on May 14. The shuttle’s two solid rocket boosters' casings and associated flight hardware are recovered from the Atlantic Ocean shortly after launch by special recovery ships, the Liberty Star and Freedom Star, and returned for refurbishment and reuse on future shuttle flights, if needed. Hangar AF was originally used to support Project Mercury, the first U.S. human space program. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann